Martin Creed, Work No 127 The Lights Going On and Off, (Lighting 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off), (Diptych)

In Martin Creed, Work 127: The Lights Going On and Off, (2014), Annie Cabigting extends her engagement with Western art history and the nature and reception of art by referencing the 1995 iteration of the Turner Prize-winning installation by the British artist. The public reaction to Creed’s prize-winning work in 2001 was highly polarised, ranging from critical acclaim to disbelief and disgust, but the prestigious award nevertheless cemented the artist’s reputation in local and international art circles. Characterised by a subversive sense of humour and profound simplicity, Creed’s installation consisted only of lights going on and off in 30-second intervals in an otherwise empty underground space.

Cabigting honours Creed’s original concept in her version, presenting the underground space bathed in light or covered in shadow as a diptych of paintings that are further illuminated by timed flashes from a spotlight. The source photographs for her paintings, which were taken from a publication, are installed in an accompanying lightbox. Here, Cabigting surfaces the material, temporal, and experiential differences between the mediums of performance, installation, painting, and photography. In this dialogue with Western art history, Cabigting also reminds us of the powerful role that curators and institutions play not only in determining what works are presented to the public but also in shaping the art historical narratives that form around them.